Mercier



I I @stitch -ltstsis getint @ffre.'

i Vtheir whole length, than are the switch-rails 616.

EDWARD MERCIER, or'y SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOETQ HIMSELF AND' HENRY W. BAILEY, or SAME PLAGE.l

Lettere .Patent No. 77,510, dated May 5, 1868 manovra mimosa-SWITCH.

dlgs Sdgehu'lt refrmh tu. in H3252 tttersntert inn making pitt ai il): same. .i

To ALL -WHOM Ir MAYooNcEnN:

' Be it knoivn that I, EDWIRD MERCIER, of'Springiield, inthe county of Hampden, and State of Massachu` sette, have made and invented-certain new and useful Improvements iu Safety-Switches for Railroads and I do hereby declare that the following is a fall, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference'being'had'to the annexed drawings, making a partiof `this specification, in which- Figure 1 is atop elevation of Iswitch and track, and

Figure 2 it perspective .view of the safety-piece. v v

MyiuventionA relates to e. safety-switch for railroads, more particularly for roads tvhereeu the ears. arev propelled by steam, and is notapplicable incase of 'more thanone side or switch-track.' v

In all -former safety-swi tches,'so far as my'knowledge extends, use ismade either of pointed rails, so called, as in'Patcnt No'. 29,820, n. device which I deem both unsafe and unreliable, orbroad exterior inclines and interior guides are connected with and form a part of the mening-switch rails, rendering the whole caux-l brous, and difficult to manage orrepair; and when this vlatter arrangement is used,if the switch bc misplaced, the wheels, on one' side at least, of a. passing train, more on the flanges thereof, thus gaining of or Kadvancing fasterthanthe opposite wheels, and this gain always happens, from the nature of the case, to be on the Wrong side, thereby tending to aggravate rather than mitigate the shock or jar incident to the mispleeement oi` u switch. l

My invention is designed to obviaze these defects, and to provide a switch at once safe, cheap, manageable, and easy of repair, avoiding the use of pointed rails, and which, if misplaced, will mitigate the shock orjar incident thereto. v

In carrying ont my invention, I make use ot no unusual apparatus, except the safety-pieces c a' and plates ce',i in all other respects, I accomplish my ohjeet bytthe use and peculiar arrangement of common rails andv switch-machinery, aud'my peculiar arrangement is as follows: I placetheeuds of the rails d d', composidg'the Bidder switch-track, at a distance of fromcne and a halt' to tuo and'one-fourth inehes, laterally, from the ends of the rails c c, forming the main track;` in other words, I place the ends of the rails com-posing the main and side tracks as nearly together .as possible, and still give free und unobstructed passage to the ilanges of wheels moving between them in either direction. I securethe rails e c d d', thus arranged, on the tie ',q. by means of common spikes.`

Next, I place one end of' either switchruil, b b', in the chairs h It', bending such rails, divergently, somewhere near their middles, till the ends thereof opposite the hairs h iff-are as much further'apart than are the exterior rails a d as is equal to the distende between the main and side-track-rals cld.

' To the inside of the Snitch-rails bfb, thus bent, I holt firmly thesa'i'ety-pieces a a', and these safety-pieces I I cest, roll,v o'r forge of steel or ir'on, but I prefenthe former material. `In shape, I make the safety-.pieces a a substantially as seen in llig. 1, consisting' of an .'incline, and a part operating as a spliceaailf or forming u continuation, inastraight line, of Ithe bent-suiteh rail, to the in'side'of 'which it is attached; but the relative' position of the incline and slpliceqail must be inverted er varied,of course, to tit V,the opposite rails of the switch@ The rails b b', thus arranged, are heldrby thesn'itcli-bnr B, and operated by any ordinary,switch-machinery.

And further, I provide longstationary guides, f f', which I make of commen rail, and 'arrange inside the switch-rails and safety-pieces, und relatively to the main and sideltracks, substantially asshown iniig. 2, taking care that the guides/j be somewhat longer at each end, and about three-fourths lof' an inch higher throughout By the side of the guides ff', I'spike firlmly the iron plates e e', tvhich I roll or forge llat,`\vith bevelled ends, and make of about the same height as 'the rails dc, less the height of the flanges of passing wheels; in

. otherwords, I.coustruct and arrange the plates c e in such a manner 4that'the wheels of passing. tr'sins will go from the Arails d c", 'where they move on the tread, to the plates e e', where they move on the ange," with oumater'l riso pr fall. The wclth'of' the plates e e I snake such as lto fill the spaces between the gum-deff nml the rn'lsd c( respecti'vely, und `I taper the outside edges of the plates e'eyso that the insdes Qfthe safety-l `it is intended they shall do.4

The safety-pieces aaLI ujnnnge-,ns shoefstnted; inside the switch-fails b b", is bythis n'anghementi theft I `mitigate the shock orf-jayncdenttdthn misplnc'ementiof n swith,.or, as wll he seen, all wheelsoff trains passing "overthe inclines of 4thc safety-piecesfngoye'on'the harige, and .therefore fgan ofl the wheels 

